Remnant's Fate: Doom?
by JustTooMany
Summary: Things have been pretty tame here on remnant lately. Peace with a little bit of a crime spree and terrorist activity mixed in. I was thinking that it's 'bout time that changed? Today we send; The slayer, the super soldier, the bounty hunter, and the assassin. Four deadly warriors. One goal. "You all thinking what I'm thinking?" "Time to blow shit up?" "Yup" "..." "Heh. Show time"
1. Awakening

**I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR DOOM!**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Awakening**

* * *

A man looked impatiently at his watch. He was middle aged, with dark hair speckled with grey on the sides. He performed little actions of restlessness; adjusting his tie, pulling the glove on his right hand, straightening his white jacket, and so on. His left leg bounced with nervous energy. His thin face was pulled into a expression of annoyance and displeasure. "Ten minutes late." He muttered under his breath.

Being a high ranking man of a large military force did not leave one with much room for patience when it came to business.

"I'm sure they have a valid reason to be tardy, sir." His subordinate newt to him said. "They were very insistent after all. Saying that it was essential that we come in person to see what they were planning to offer. Whatever must be keeping them has to be important."

Ironwood sighed. "I do hope you are right."

The duo were sitting at a table in the front lobby of the headquarters of the United Aerospace Corporation, or UAC, a new private research and development company that also doubled as a military force. It had been founded a while back, and was run by some of the greatest minds currently residing Remnant.

The two were here on account of the UAC's director, Dr. Samuel Hayden, personally contacting them. He wished for them to come to a meeting and see a demonstration of what he and his company have achieved. They appeared to be planning a business transaction or collaboration, as the general guessed.

A voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Hello General Ironwood and Special Operative Schnee. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to our establishment." it said, a hologram eye appearing above the table they were sitting at.

Both named military officials sprang to their feet in surprise. They looked at the floating eye, wondering just what in the world it was.

"Hello." Ironwood said a bit uncertainly. "Uh... who might you be?"

"I am Vega, the sentient intelligence assigned to the UAC Headquarters." Vega introduced himself. "I help operate this entire foundry, following the orders of high ranked officials and helping any working personnel."

"An sentient intelligence?" Winter asked. "Like an AI?"

"Correct. I am an autonomous artificial intelligence, one of the first fully fledged AI that the UAC has created. I was designed by Dr. Hayden himself to be able to run the facility should he or any other high seated board members be unable to do so."

"Ah-huh." Ironwood mused.

"Now, believe you two have a scheduled meeting. Allow me to lead you through the facility and to where the demonstration will be held."The hologram of a eye disappeared, and a nearby door opened leading to a hall, the eye of Vega on a screen near the door. Looking to each other, Ironwood and Winter went to the door, entering and following AI.

As they walked down the hall they looked to their right, which was a collection of windows showing various rooms. Most of them were labs, showing people in lab coats looking at screens and mapping out equations.

"As you can see, we have scientists working round the clock to develop new ideas for our work, and how to improve on various of our current operations."

In one of the rooms, there were robotic limbs constructing pieces to machines neither Atlas personnel could fathom what they did.

"Here at the UAC, we pride ourselves in having some of the best engineering and mechanical equipment. And we produce more every day, product rate reaching about a fifty items an day, or eighteen thousand two hundred fifty items a year."

Ironwood could barely imagine the thought of that production rate. If Atlas had that great a production rate, then they'd have more airships, rifles, and automated soldiers then they would know what to do with.

"And... and all of your products are fully functional?" Winter asked.

"Yes, but sadly over half of what we produce is just standard equipment." Vega said, sounding a bit disappointed. "As much as we are about producing advanced and powerful technology, we are also funded by various organizations who want certain items. We provide them at the best of quality, but it keeps us from focusing on our overall objective."

Ironwood was surprised. For all their talk of creating the best of advanced items, they were limited in funding? That must be why they had come to the Atlesian government. They were looking for someone to fund their products that they truly wanted to build.

They passed another door, this one showing well built men and women running around a track. All looked to be about in their late teens to early twenties.

Before either Ironwood or Winter could ask, Vega explained what it was.

"This is our Elite Guard division. Here we select candidates to become the best of the best. Under intense training and experimentation, these soldiers are given augmentations, top of the line weapons, along with state of the art suits; allowing them to perform far greater than any older and more experienced officer." Vega said.

"Experimentation?" Ironwood asked.

"Affirmative. With need for stronger individuals on the battlefield, many advancements with Dust have been used over the years. But, here at the UAC, we are not limited to just Dust with our experimentation." There seemed to be an odd edge to Vega's voice. Almost as if he was being smug.

"What do you mean by, 'not limited to just Dust?' " Winter asked, frowning at how he sounded when he said the last bit.

"You'll learn soon enough." Vega responded. "After all, it is the main reason Dr. Hayden called you here."

With that said, the rest of the mini-tour continued on in complete silence.

* * *

"For the last time, Catherine, you can't speak to him."

Olivia Pierce was sitting at her desk, in the middle of a video call with an old associate and past fellow researcher and friend.

"This is important!" Catherine said. "Samuel cannot just up and ignore me!"

"I assure you, if he could, he'd be there working alongside you." Olivia said, sighing in exasperation. "He'd love nothing more. But you know better than anyone just how vital his work is."

"And my work isn't important?!" Catherine shrieked. "We're working towards the same goal! Surely he understands that, and should be doing all he can to assist me!"

Olivia sighed again, snapping her head up when a knock came at the door. "Look, Catherine. I'll talk to him later when I can. Right now I have a meeting to attend."

She closed the com link before Catherine could say anything else. Rubbing her temples, Olivia called out. "Come in."

The doors slid open and Ironwood and Winter entered.

"Welcome, General Ironwood and Specialist Schnee. I am Olivia Pierce, co-head of the UAC." Olivia greeted, standing up and walking around her desk.

She shook hands with both Atlesians and motioned them to two seats before the desk. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

When they were all seated, Ironwood was the first to speak.

"Where is Dr. Hayden?" He asked. "It was my impression that he wanted to speak to us personally."

Olivia gave Ironwood a tired smile. "Yes. He was indeed adamant to attend this meeting himself, but some... rather concerning matters have occurred as of recently that have needed his immediate and utmost attention."

"And what could possibly be so important as to be keeping the good doctor?" Ironwood asked, eyes narrowed.

"Nothing too concerning to a point. There has been some, let's say, heated debates rising up from staff members." Olivia explained. "Lately some have begun to believe that what we are researching is pure evil. "The work of the devil", in their words. While others believe that we're on the verge of a second coming, or sign of God."

"That is quite a divide." Winter noted.

Olivia sighed again. "Indeed. Samuel is working on calming heads, quelling fears, and raising moral. As you can imagine it is quite the task, requiring tremendous amounts of time and effort. But Samuel has always been one to push himself towards tasks that seem impossible and has always found a way to come out on top." With a small smile of pride, Olivia ran a hand back through her hair and straightened up.

"So while he is preoccupied, I will just have to do my best to fill in in his absence."

There was a few seconds of silence, witch Ironwood broke. "I'm curious. Where do you fall in that certain debate?" he asked.

Olivia laughed at that. "I do not believe this is the devil's research, nor do I think any God has any sort of hand in any of this. But, I do believe that even if our work is perilous at times and can certainly blur the lines of morals, we do it all for the sake of mankind benefit. Against our struggle against the Grimm, and against mother nature."

Ironwood took a while to watch her carefully. As soon as he had entered the room with her, he had felt something odd. There was this... air about Olivia. She had a kind of active passiveness. She was like someone who could be hidden in plane sight, and even forgotten from other's minds at her convenience. She seemed like someone who could persuade someone to get something she wants just by staying quiet and letting everyone else do the heavy persuasion.

Ironwood pulled himself from his thoughts and continued on with the meeting.

"So, why was Dr. Hayden so insistent that the Atlas military come meet him today?"

"Ah, right to the point." Olivia nodded, smiling. "Good. I like that."

She rose from her chair, and went to the wall behind her desk. Holding up her hand, a holographic screen appeared. With a press of a holographic button, the sound of gears moving was now heard. From the desk emerged a small white box with several clasps and locks. Olivia pressed a few more buttons and the box's clasps and locks opened.

She popped up the lid. Olivia's face was suddenly lit up in a deep red glow. Ironwood and Winter watched silently as Olivia reached into the box and pulled out a ball. It was made of glass and was clear, and in the middle of it was a small, red crystal. The crystal glowed and sparked inside the ball with energy. Th instant it was in full view the room was bathed in it's red glow. Even its energy seemed to fill the whole room as well. Raw, untamed, untapped power just begging to be unleashed and used.

Ironwood and Winter got to their feet and looked in awe at the small object. A crystal of energy with tiny red lightning encircling it. That was the best they could think to describe it.

"This," Olivia held up the little marvel of science in her hand. "Is Argent Energy. _This_ is the next revolution in the field of energy propellant, and the benefits it will create for other industries as well will be quite remarkable, to say the least."

She looked back at the two Atlesians, who had regained their composure. She smiled, knowing she had roped them in. "So. Shall we talk business?"

* * *

He stood there amidst the chaos and destruction caused by his actions. The stone ground was covered in rivers of blood, and the sky was a red hue that matched the defiled earth. The dead lay strewn all around him. Both the innocent, ruthlessly slain, and the guilty, brutishly destroyed; everywhere their bodies were scattered.

The corpses of men, women, young children, and horrific demons all could be seen across the desolate plane. He could hear the screams from people far off, howling along side the restless wind. Their earsplitting shrieks of agony ripped through the air, a distinct sign that there was still killing and fighting going on.

 **"It's time."** A deep, resounding voice said, interrupting the nightmare. **"Time to return to the world of the living, and continue your never ending mission."** It chuckled amused. **"It's time for you to be awakened."**

Broken sword clasped in his hand, he looked on to a hoard of monsters, even worse than what the human imagination was capable of conceiving. Each being was more horrific than the last, and stronger as well, or at least much harder to kill. Currently they held back from him, as they had seen first hand what he had done to their kind, their remains lying at his feet and trailing behind him. They knew to fear this man, for he was vastly different from the rest. He stood out from all other humans any of them had encountered.

There was an raw, unbridled ferocity that he held that was comparable to what the demons themselves held.

 **"As much as I'd rather not unleash you, as I know full well to doubt that I could ever control you... I need you. I can, at the very least, point you in the right direction. You'll achieve an end that meets both of our goals, I'm sure."**

He spat out some blood onto the ground, whipping his chin with his forearm. Holding up what remained of his weapon, bloodied gauntlet grasping it tightly, the sentinel pointed it to the demons. It was a silent challenge, saying that he did not fear them, going as far as daring them to make the first move. They backed a step away instinctively, fearing to meet their doom.

It was not until a roar split the air, drowning out everything else, that things moved along. The demons scattered, making way for the new arrival. Stomping through the hoard of demons, came a large monstrosity. Eight feet tall, without visible eyes and large limbs, it distinguished itself from the rest of the lesser demons. As to be expected from one of Hell's Knights.

But the Sentinel was not one to be intimidated easily. After all, he was a Night Sentinel, a guardian fighting off the forces of the night. He alone had been given many titles branding him as hell's worst enemy. The Bane of Hell, The Hell Walker, and The Unchained Predator.

Dubbed by the demons themselves, he was the one and only, Doom Slayer.

Throwing away the near useless weapon, the Slayer stood his ground before the Hell Knight, fists raised. The Hell Knight roared, baring it's set of serrated teeth and razor claws. The two charged, roaring their war cries. They met in the middle, the Hell Knight's claws primed to shred flesh, and the Slayer with fists ready to rip and tear.

 **"The dark forces are collecting together, planning something no one can even begin to imagine. They will rain down upon us all, bringing Armageddon with them. They will be rage, brutal, without mercy. But you..."** The voice boomed into a powerful laugh that echoed within his nightmare world. **"...You will be worse. Rip and tear, until it is done."**

* * *

The Slayer awoke, bellowing savagely and launching himself upwards. However he found himself pulled back with resistance. After a second to recover from this confusion, he found his hands chained. Inspecting closer to his restraints, he found that he seemed to be bound to a table made of stone, with nothing but undergarments on. With a shake of his head to rid the rest of the fog in his mind, he pulled against his restraints and broke the chains with a little effort.

Once free he sat up, rubbing his wrists as he begun observing his surroundings. He was in a room was in near perfect darkness, the only light coming from wax candles placed around the stone table. In the light available, he made out the shapes of walls covered in metallic objects. He was not familiar with most of it, but from what he could guess, these were extremely advanced technological machines, having seen a few before.

The room was cold, void of any sense of warmth or anything remotely close to hopped of the the stone table, his bare feet met a cold metal floor. Rubbing his hands and breathing on them, he was again reminded of the issue that he was basically naked. The thought of being naked didn't bother him, it was just not wearing anything to protect him from any on coming attack. He looked around, and his eyes found the stone table he had been on just a moment ago.

The slayer found it was not a table, but in fact a large slab of rock in a rectangular shape. On it's surface was a dent, outlining the form of a person, of him he realized. Looking up he saw metallic limbs hanging from the ceiling, claws clamped onto another stone, matching the width and length of it's counterpart below it. Gazing between the two it wasn't hard to piece things together.

He had been lying within the confines of those two stones, trapped between them like a corpse inside a coffin. He frowned at the stones, disturbed by the thought of how he had ended up like that. He shook it off, forcing himself to focus. Looking around again, he found a doorway, leading out of the room. Without hesitation the slayer headed for it, his rapid foot steps making hardly a sound.

Entering the new room, he was met with a comforting sight, the first since waking up. Before him was a suit of armor, embedded in rock. This armor belonged to none other than himself. Why it was in stone, and how it even got there in the first place was beyond him, but it mattered little to him as he approached it.

In no time he was back in the familiar armor, holding his helmet before him. He found the red symbol painted above the left corner of the visor, running this thumb over it almost fondly. Then he placed the helmet over his head. Once he put it on, he looked down, seeing something odd.

A backpack, looking to be no bigger than one a child would use. It matched his armor's color scheme, with electronic symbols dotted around. There was a note on it, which he picked up.

 _'It's a gift. It will help you on your journey. Use it well. -S.H.'_ it read simply.

Confused, he picked it up and looked inside. There was a pistol inside, which he took out and examined before clipping it to his side. He stuck his hand inside the bag, searching for anything else. He came up with nothing, but found it to be more spacious than he thought at fist. Reaching far in, he couldn't feel the bottom, and yet it was no bigger than his forearm.

He found that with it up to his shoulder, it appeared as if he had a stump arm. The only conclusion he could make that made sense to him is that it was some kind of magic. He didn't initially like the idea of using magic of unknown origin, but it would be of use. It would allow him to keep multiple times on hand at all times and not having to worry about weight or movement restriction. Slinging it on his back, he adjusted the straps and fitted it to him.

The slayer turned to his right to a device next to the stone where the armor had been. He touched its glowing screen, quickly figuring out how to operate it. He found a map, showing where he was and how to leave. Once committing the map to memory and sure he would know where to go, he pushed it to the side and walked to another door, leading out to a hallway.

He had no idea where he was, or where he was going, but he knew that he had to move. So, after a quick stretch to get all the knots out of his muscles and the cricks out of his bones, he started a moderate jog. He put his unseen game face on, readying himself to face whatever got in his way.

* * *

Olivia slid the contract towards Ironwood, pointing to where he was to sign. "This is it. Just one signature here, and the transaction between your resources and our products will be official." She said.

Ironwood nodded, pulling out a pen. Before he could put his pen on the paper however, alarms suddenly blared and bright red lights came to life, interrupting the signing.

"What is that?!" Winter asked, hand nearing her sword.

Olivia pressed a finger to a button to a com link. "Security, what is going on?" she demanded.

"We're under attack, ma'am!" A voice responded, trembling in fear.

"An intruder is tearing through the facility, blazing past all our defenses! " Another said, just as full of fear.

"There's only one intruder?!" Olivia asked bewildered. "How can a single individual be such a problem!?"

"He's too fast! They never get a chance against him, as he gets to them before they can start to effectively fight back. He's throwing them around like rag dolls, and he just-!" there was a loud bang in the background. "Oh gods! He just got hold of a rocket launcher! Our men are dropping like flies!"

Yet another voice spoke up. "We need back up! He's too strong! He's like some sort of demo-AAAAAAHHHHHH!" the person was cut off, the sound of explosions filling in, then static.

Olivia's face was pale, sweat starting to bead on the back of her neck. _'There's no doubt about it. It has to be him.'_ she thought. _'He's escaped. But how could he have possibly-!?'_

She was pulled from her thoughts when Ironwood spoke. "This will have to be put off till this is resolved. My subordinate and I will help neutralize this threat."

Olivia wanted to protest, but she knew that would look suspicious. Nodding she leaned back in her chair. "Please be careful, and try to keep damage to a minimum." she said. "I'll operate from here, as I have no combat experience on the battle field."

Ironwood and Winter nodded, turning and leaving out the door. Olivia locked her fingers together, resting her forehead on them.

"I can only hope you manage to stop him." She muttered. "He'll ruin everything if he's allowed to interfere." She got up, pulling out a small stone tablet with a green glowing symbol. She paled even more, dreading that she had to inform her 'partner' of what was happening.

* * *

The slayer fired the rocket launcher, causing several explosions and screams. Running through the fire, he came out the other side, holding the launcher in one hand as he punched a guard with his other in his helmeted face. He rounded a corner only to find several other guards. He had a brief moment of slumping his shoulders in what looked like exasperation, then put the rocket launcher away and cracked his knuckles.

After quickly dispatching of the guards he continued on, re-equipping with his shotgun and entering a large hallway. He made it about halfway through it when he heard a yell.

"Halt!" the yell was behind him.

Turning, he saw two people. One was a man, and one a woman. Both wore white, high rank militaristic outfits. The woman held a saber in her hand, while the man held no visible weapon, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.

"You have trespassed on private government property, vandalized and destroyed parts of said property, and attacked personnel." The man said. "Identify yourself and turn yourself in now, and you will see a fair trial."

The woman brandished her sword at him. "Resistance will not be tolerated and will be met with force."

The slayer looked between the two, knowing that these were higher tear warriors than the ones he'd been facing prior. These people were a obstacle and a threat to him and his goal.

He put the shot gun away, storing it in his backpack. The two people gave shocked expressions when the weapon seem to just up and disappear, without transforming or anything. Just 'poof,' it's gone!

 _'What in the-?'_ Winter thought before she got into a stance as the intruder charged, unarmed.

He drew back his fist to throw punch. Winter shifted her stance a bit, and prepared to engage. He threw the punch, and she brought her sword to intercept it.


	2. Unleashed

**Chapter Two: Unleashed**

* * *

The slayer batted away the oncoming saber thrust to his chest, only to jump back from a high kick to the face. No sooner had he landed a safe distance from the Winters's blade had Ironwood started shooting at him with his pistol. His very powerful pistol.

He took a quick glance at the armor on his forearm where a few small but noticeable dents could be seen. A result of the earlier mentioned firearm. With fire inbound the slayer had to dive to the side and role. Once he'd sprang up to his feet he spun around and blocked Winters's saber with his forearm.

He had blocked all manner of attacks with his glove covered hands. Punches, bullets, slashes, kicks, and stabs. He didn't catch all of them though, as his opponents were pretty fast. At this point he was doing more running and dodging than actually stopping their attacks. Not that there was anything wrong with that, it was just he wanted to get this fight over with already.

The slayer hadn't expected to finish this fight relatively fast, but these two were better than he'd first thought. Whenever he pushed back Winter, Ironwood would fire that damn pistol at him, forcing him to run, which ultimately always ended up leading him where Winter was going or already waiting for him. They were an effective pair, their teamwork well planned and executed. There was no doubt in the slayer's mind that these two were top tier soldiers.

Then again he was a great soldier in his own right, and he wasn't fighting them completely seriously for that matter. At this rate though he just might have to get serious unless he let them waste time till reinforcements for them came along. He wasn't interested in fighting these two, or anyone from this place. He just needed to get past them to exit this place so he could go on and get to his job. And he wasn't about to let anything stand in his way.

After all, he hadn't survived forcing his way through the bowels of Hell time and again just to be stopped now.

His purpose wasn't finished yet. Not even close.

With a roll of the shoulders, the slayer reached behind him and drew his pistol from his backpack. He ran as he started peppering the two of them with multiple energy blasts. Ironwood and Winter scattered from the shots, deflecting the few that got too close. The blasts were too weak to serve any real damage alone, but the sheer number of them coming with almost no end in sight was troubling to them both.

'How can such a small weapon have so much ammunition?' Ironwood wondered.

The slayer ran at Winter, switching his pistol out for his shotgun. He leaped at her, unloading a few rounds simultaneously. Winter backed away as she deflected some shots with her sword. She hadn't expected this sudden and violent aggressive change in tactics. It was like this man was out of his mind!

He continued to push her back as he shot at her, switching from explosive shots to charged bursts and back. Winter was feeling the heat, and so started using her glyphs. She dashed from side to side, avoiding his shots much easier. Then she shot herself at the slayer with her glyphs, using tremendous speed to try to take him out.

The slayer was surprised how fast she had gotten all of a sudden, but he had dealt with opponents who could basically teleport from one side of a large chamber to the other in the blink of an eye. He switched out his shotgun for his chainsaw, and met her charge head on blocking her blade.

The collision force from her speed sent him back a few feet, but he dug in his heels and came to a stop rather quickly, leaving a small trail where his feet had dug into the ground. Their weapons locked, sparks flying as the chain on his chainsaw ran. He wasted no time, not wanting Ironwood to make use of any advantages.

The slayer raised his leg and kicked Winter in the gut sending her back. Before she got far he grabbed her arm and drew her in for a headbutt before releasing her and took a step back. Winter staggered back a bit, dazed from the connection to his helmeted heads, but he wasn't done with her yet. The slayer quickly put away his chainsaw, grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her in, slamming his forearm into her face. Then he took her by the arm, turned around with her to his back, and threw her over his shoulder.

Winter flew over to the farthest wall about a good thirty feet away from the Slayer. With a loud resounding bang she collided with the metal wall, sliding to the floor limp. over

"Winter!" Ironwood shouted as he ran to his subordinate's side.

He knelt down next to her. She was conscious and save for a minor cut on her head that was bleeding she wasn't too hurt thanks to her Aura. After checked her condition, he determined that she wasn't in any immediate danger. She looked at him and gave him a weak, embarrassed smile. "Sorry, General. I let my guard down."

"Don't worry about it." He glanced at the Slayer, who was watching them silently. "Stay here. I'll handle this vagabond." Ironwood stood up, turning to the silent slayer. "You'll regret doing that to my subordinate."

He had been looking for an exist with his eyes hidden behind the helmet, paying them no mind when Ironwood spoke. The slayer didn't respond, just drew his shotgun and shifted his feet. The two stood still as stone. The air was full of tension, and if it weren't for the alarms still blaring it'd be deathly quiet.

Then the slayer made the first move.

He sent a volley of explosive shotgun shots at Ironwood, taking a large leap back as he did so. Ironwood charged after him, dodging the shots and shooting them out of the air as he advanced. The Slayer changed to the charged burst function and started charging at Ironwood.

The two exchanged shots and dodged the others as they neared. Once they were at arm distance they locked in a mix of close quarters and point blank shooting. Each exchanged kicks and punches, as well as closely avoided shots from the other's respective weapons. Then the slayer ended it with a solid kick to Ironwood's chest, sending him back several feet.

The duo looked at each other from a distance, gauging the other. They were both close to being halfway at their limits, and neither of them had used their trump cards yet. This fight was close to ending, and they both new it.

The only question was who was going to end it and come up on top?

Ironwood took initiative this time and went into a jog. The slayer mirrored him. Soon they both sped up till they were full on sprinting towards each other, two masses of strength and adrenaline hurdling towards each other towards collision. The slayer leaped up, drawing his chainsaw and swung it at Ironwood. Ironwood in turn ducked under the chainsaw and the slayer, shooting up at him with his pistol. The slayer was hit but shook off the blow as he landed from his jump into a roll and spun around.

Ironwood spun and dug his right hand into the ground, stopping himself. The slayer charged again, preparing his chainsaw for a slash. Ironwood stood his ground, shooting at the slayer. The slayer dodged them and managed to get right in front of Ironwood. He swung the chainsaw one handed, which Ironwood closely avoiding ducking under it.

The the slayer brought his free hand to punch Ironwood, who calmly stopped it with his right hand. Ironwood then shot a blast at the marine's feet, causing a small explosion which unbalanced the slayer. Ironwood then swung the slayer around by the arm, slamming him into the ground on his back, the held him up so his back was to him.

Ironwood then placed his pistol right on the slayer's shoulder, and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun shot rang through the halls, followed by silence.

* * *

A person hidden in deep shadows observed the fight carefully with a calculating eye.

Above a desk was a holographic screen, showing the skirmish between the intruder and the two Atlesians. When the General caught the intruder in a hold, and shot him in the shoulder, the person clenched their hands. The intruder fell to their knees, holding their wound. Another screen showed a squad of Elite Guards approaching towards the intruder and the General. The person leaned back in their chair, letting out a low irritated hum.

"Seems my mutual ally is in peril and in need of my assistance." they said, sounding mildly irritated. "Must I always take matters into my own hands? But then again, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

They leaned forward and reached out a hand, taking their time as they pressed a few buttons. Once the command had been imputed, a warning message appeared, asking for confirmation and a code. Once that was done the warning disappeared, replaced by an sign labeled 'affirmative.'

Leaning back again in their chair, they interlocked their fingers. Resting their chin on said hands, they resumed watching the holo-screen.

"I can only do so much at the moment, my angry friend. Do not squander what assistance I can give you. It'd be such a waste of both of our time and efforts. And I am not a man to waste such valuable and limited things."

* * *

The slayer fell to his knees, holding his arm where it was shot. He hadn't been expecting that maneuver from this man, nor for him to be that strong. Holding back now seemed to have been the wrong choice.

Winter had recovered mostly at this point, and walked over to stand by her superior. "Fine work General Ironwood. I'd expect no less."

"Save the flattery, Winter. Focus on the task at hand, this isn't finished yet." Ironwood said, pointing his pistol at the Slayer."You're intrusion and senseless destruction ends here."

"Surrender." Winter said. "It's over, just give up."

Hearing those last words caused images and sounds to flash in the slayer's head. Screams and roars, red burning eyes and sharp gnashing teeth. His head wall filled with a cold echoing laugh. His mind was plagued by images of a large spider-like monstrosity. Atop four mechanical legs sat a large exposed brain with tiny arms and a demonic face. It's red eyes glowed menacingly and its fang filled mouth was curled up in a snarl.

It's demonic voice rang in his head, mocking and gloating at him.

 _ **"So, you are the one who's been causing so much trouble for my brethren. I must say, after hearing all the stories of your rampage across our realm, you're quiet underwhelming in the flesh. It's quiet disappointing really. I was quite looking forward to facing off against the mighty 'Doom Slayer.' "**_

It laughed, the sound echoing and reverberating in his skull.

 _ **"Though I must admit, you being the last of Night Sentinels, and the very last of your kind, I will grant you one boon. You'll have a quick death, unlike the rest of your people. Think of it as a reward for surviving this long and being such a painful thorn in our side."**_

It laughed again.

 _ **"Your meddling ends here, Slayer. No more shall you be a hindrance to our plans. You're all alone with no one to save you. It's the end of the line for you."**_

Red glowing, beady eyes staring at him, burning with hate and triumph. A bright laser blasting at him. It's cold, resounding cackle echoing so loudly.

 _ **"It's over for you. Just give up."**_

The memory angered him, reminding him why he fought and why he had to press on. He turned his head to look up at Ironwood. Just before he could think to get up and attack him, a roar split the air. All three of them looked up to see something fall from a upper level. Covered in all black fur with white bone-like protrusions coming out of it, was a bipedal wolf with a white mask and glowing red eyes.

It threw its elongated muzzle back and howled. He turned to the trip and bared its fangs and claws, preparing to attack.

'How the hell did a Alpha Beowulf get in here?' Winter wondered, alarmed.

Looking at the monster, the slayer found it was familiar to him somehow, but he couldn't quiet put his trigger happy finger on it. Remembering where he'd seen it before or not aside, seeing the creature now caused him to become more angry. He didn't know why, for he was sure it wasn't a demon exactly, but it was certainly demonic enough that it didn't matter to him.

With a roar that was almost inhuman, he got up and charged the monster. It lunged back at him in turn, claws extended towards him. Rolling under it's attack, the slayer popped back up, grabbing it's leg and pulling it towards him and up. Once it was in place he slammed his fist right into its muzzle.

Bone, tissue, and all succumbed to the mighty force that was his fist. What remained of it's head was an imploded mess. As it disintegrated into black mist, he felt his wounds hurt less. Looking at himself, he saw that a mist like red energy that turned blue as it neared him, was being absorbed into his suit. He was healing, and not after killing a demon as the suit was supposed to be designed to do.

Winter and Ironwood could only stare in shock at what they had just witnessed. They had seen this man fight viciously, but what he demonstrated while facing that Beowulf was straight horrific. One punch to the face and it was basically like watching a wall meet the business side of a sledge hammer! And the glowing suit and healing was another matter altogether.

'How is he healing from his injuries so fast? And what is that glow?' Winter thought.

'Is that his aura? Or his semblance?' Ironwood followed a similar train of thought as his subordinate.

The slayer was deep in thought himself, looking down at his hands. How was he healing? That was only supposed to happen after he kill demons, and that creature was no demon he'd ever seen before.

The sound of many heavy booted footsteps forced the slayer to push the strange healing anomaly aside. He needed to escape from this place. A loud hiss and metallic clank drew his attention. A large blast door was slowly opening, revealing a snowing ice covered landscape.

The exit!

Without a second thought he bolted straight into a sprint and ran for the exit. He heard hot pursuit behind him, so quickly drew his rocket launcher and turned around, unloading a few rounds up in the air. Debris fell to the ground and yells were soon followed by the explosions from the rockets.

Satisfied that no one would dare to follow him so soon, he continued his run for the exit, which had begun to close. Pulling off an Indiana Jones style escape from the facility, he continued to run through the frozen snowy tundra that awaited before him.

* * *

"He has just now exited the facility." Olivia gulped. "He has escaped."

She looked at the red mist-like apparition before her. It was little more than a rough silhouette of the upper body of a man, but his posture imposed an air of authority. The silhouette shook his head in disapproval.

"You should not have allowed his location to be discovered." He said with a demonic voice. "You have failed us."

"It was not me! Samuel was the one who led them to his tomb. I have done everything in my power to keep him contained, but someone has set him free. I would not be surprised if it was Samuel himself, or someone working alongside h-"

"Enough." The demon interrupted, waving a arm. "Empty apologies and excuses are meaningless. What you must do is hunt him down, and end him before he ruins our plans."

"Y-Yes, of course." Olivia said.

"Go. You have your assignment, carry it out. I will inform our allies of this unfortunate development." With that the apparition faded.

Olivia sat in her chair, pale as a piece of paper. She wiped away sweat beading down her eyes from her brow. Resting her chin in her hands, she went into thought.

'I'll most likely have to send a good portion of the demons we have here to take him out. I may even have to unleash subject CD587.' She thought bitterly. 'That will put a significant dent in the number of our forces for when we open the gate. But if we get rid of him, it won't matter.'

She was pulled from her thoughts with a knock on her door. "Come in."

A faculty member came in with a holo-clipboard. "Ms. Pierce. I've come with the report of today's events."

"Ugh." She said, rubbing her forehead. "What is the casualty rate?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"About that." The guy sounded and looked confused. "Surprisingly enough, casualties were low. Though collateral damage to the facility is high and several of our men are wounded, everyone is accounted for. Many will be out of commission for months, but none have anything fatal." He put down the holo-clipboard, his expression one of disbelief. "We have a total of zero fatalities."

Olivia looked up at that. 'That is odd.'

"He was causing serious damage on the whole facility, yet no one was killed?' She voiced her thoughts.

"Correct." The guy said. "Our injury rate includes a few scientists, several engineers, dozens of personnel, and almost the entire security division. We are down at least a fifth- almost a fourth- of our entire staff. Luckily, none of our Elite Guards nor any desk and faculty staff were injured, so there's that."

Olivia sighed. Things weren't perfect, but there were far better than she had first feared.

"Thank you. If that is all, you are dismissed." She waved a hand tired at him.

As the faculty member left, Ironwood and Winter entered. Winter had some bandages wrapped around her head, but other than that, neither of them looked worse for wear.

"I'm terribly sorry that you had to get wrapped up in this little nuisance." Olivia said. "How are you feeling, Ms. Schnee?"

"I'll be fine, just a bit of rest and some time to allow my aura to heal me. Thank you." Winter replied.

"Good." Olivia said.

"Now, could you perhaps tell us what that was all about?" Ironwood asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know. Or at least know exactly everything." Olivia began her lie, standing up. "As you know, we are a private organization, and are relatively new. We haven't made our prescience too well known to the world as we have waited till we had something to offer it first. How such an individual such as that savage brute found out about us and managed to enter undetected is beyond me." The look in her eyes hardened. "But I intend to find out, and make him pay for what he has done."

A clap ran through the room, causing all three to turn. The newcomer was an elderly woman with white hair to about her chin, in a white lab coat. Behind her was a six foot tall man with dark green armor with an glowing orange visor. On his back was a battle rifle and strapped to his side was a pistol.

"Well said Olivia. If I was in your position, I couldn't have said better." The woman said

"Who are you?" Winter asked.

"I am Doctor Catherine Halsey, leading scientist of the UNSC and head of their Spartan II program. A super soldier project, if you will."

"The what now?" Ironwood asked.

"I guess you could say we're a sister company to the UAC here. But we're more focused on being a military power, aiming for the protection of the world."

'Another secret organization? Just how many of these are there?' Ironwood wondered. He straightened, putting his hands behind his back. "Well, I'm General Ironwood of the Atlesian army and Headmaster of Atlas Academy." He looked at the armored man next to her. "And who is this?"

"I am aware who you are, General. As for him," she indicated her hand to the armored man. "This is John." Halsey said simply. She then turned to Olivia. "Now, where is Samuel?" she more demanded than asked.

Olivia responded this time. "I told you before, he's been busy, and with the recent attack just minutes ago I don't know where he is Catherine!"

"It seems my arrival was a bit untimely." A deep, thrumming voice said. "The state of the facility is in is quite... vexing, to say the least."

All turned to see a large robotic form walking over towards them. It towered over them all at ten feet tall, its sleek white and grey metal body pristine and shining. "Perhaps if I had come just a tad sooner I could have aided in the capture of the intruder."

"Directer Hayden!" Olivia said, surprised. "I'm glad to see you're alright sir, but where have you been?"

"I had been making my way over to the meeting with the General and his Special Operative after I finished establishing the overall moral of the Elite Guards." Hayden shook his robotic head, somehow conveying annoyance. "You can imagine how irked I was when I heard the alarms go off."

"I'm sorry, Directer. The situation was out of my hands, and I could do nothing." Olivia said.

"Do not fret, Olivia. You did what you could. Now," He turned to Halsey. "I believe you wanted to see me?"

"Indeed, we need to talk." Halsey said. "You have repeatedly been avoiding me and ignoring my requests for assistance. And I have had it up to here with-"

"Fine then." Hayden interrupted, sounding nonchalant. "I'll provide you with what you require."

"W-what?" Halsey said shocked.

"But, I will in turn ask for your assistance." He added. "I want you to help me apprehend this intruder. You as well." he said to Ironwood and Winter. "As he has clearly demonstrated, he is more than capable of a considerable amount of damage on his own. I'm positive I don't have to explain to any of you what kind of a threat this man poses to the rest of Remnant if left alone and unchecked."

Hayden walked over to the window behind Olivia's desk, his footsteps silent save for the hiss and whirring of the mechanics in his legs.

"Why do you need so much help to take this man down?" Winter asked. "Sure, the scale of which he decimated your facility is great, but he can't nearly be as destructive as you're making him out to be. He's just one man!"

"I thought after seeing his power first hand you'd more than understand. This one individual is no mere man." Hayden said. "Believe me when I say that I do not exaggerate. If I say this man a threat to all of Remnant, then you'd best believe it." He said harshly.

"Then what would you have us do?" Ironwood asked.

"I'd advise that you inform your fellow Kingdom leaders and academy Headmaster's of this danger. It'd be a mistake to keep others in the dark of this."

"Alright, fair enough." Ironwood said.

"I also would ask for any possible way to gain information on his whereabouts as much as possible. If we can predict his movements, catching him will ease. And I'd ask for any additional foot and air support you could provide in aiding in his apprehension."

"I'll be the first to say you're starting to go overboard, Samuel." Halsey said.

"I'm not taking any chances, Catherine." He turned again to the window. "Remember, this man is not to be underestimated. Who knows what damage he could cause if he isn't stopped."

"Well, I'll say that you're right to be concerned, but that your precautions won't be necessary. I'll have this brute brought into custody in no time."

Hayden turned to her. "Oh really? And just how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"Simple. I'll have John go after him." Halsey said simply.

"John?" Hayden turned his head to look at the tall, armored youth.

"Did you honestly fail to notice your own nephew?"

All turned to look at the armored man next to Dr. Halsey.

He saluted. "Hello. Designated name, John Masters. Rank, Master Chief Petty Officer." He introduced himself. "Most people call me Master Chief, but I just prefer to be called John."


End file.
